Cell culture, for example the culture of mammalian, bacterial or fungal cells, may be carried out to harvest the living cells for therapeutic purposes and/or to harvest biomolecules, such as proteins or chemicals (e.g. pharmaceuticals) produced by the cells. The cells are generally grown in bioreactors which are sterilizable vessels designed to provide the necessary nutrients and environmental conditions required for cell growth and expansion. Conventional bioreactors have glass or metal growth chambers which can be sterilized and then inoculated with selected cells for subsequent culture and expansion. Media within the growth chambers are often agitated or stirred by the use of mechanical or magnetic impellers to improve aeration, nutrient dispersal and waste removal.
In recent years, there has been a move towards ‘single use’ bioreactors which offer greater production flexibility, ease of use, reduced capital cost investment and reduced risk of cross-contamination. These systems can also improve the efficiency of aeration, feeding and waste removal to increase cell densities and product yields. Examples include WAVE™ bags (GE Healthcare) mounted on rocking platforms for mixing, to the introduction of stirred-tank single-use vessels such as those available from Xcellerex (GE Healthcare).
Manufacturing facilities, such as tissue culture laboratories, for the production of cells and biomolecules, have traditionally been custom designed and carried out in clean environments to reduce the risk of contamination. Such facilities are costly to run and maintain and also to modify if priorities or work demands change. Work stations for maintaining or harvesting the cells within the bioreactors require a specific ‘footprint’ which occupies a significant floorspace in the culture laboratory. As the workstations spend much of their time unattended, while the cells are growing in the bioreactors, the laboratory space is not efficiently or effectively used.
There is therefore a need to optimise the usage of cell culture and laboratory space which grow cells in bioreactors for cell culture and biomanufacturing. The present invention addresses this problem and provides systems and methods that can be used to provide a plurality of workstations and/or storage bays for bioreactors.